Spirit Week has been a Woodford County tradition for as long as anyone can remember. It is a week full of events designed to bring our school community together and foster Woodford Pride. Spirit week consists of themed dress-up days, pep rallies, a parade, powderpuff games, and lastly, the homecoming game and dance. Each of these events creates a competition between grades that encourages students to showcase their school spirit while creating a sense of camaraderie within each grade. Although one grade wins Spirit Week every year, the competition unites us all in support of our community.
Our dress-up themes this year were pajama day, mathletes vs athletes, rhyme without reason, class color day, and extreme Woodford spirit. Days like “Rhyme Without Reason” allow students to dress up in pairs with friends and showcase their creativity with fun costumes. Class Color Day and Extreme Spirit Day are Spirit Week traditions. Every spirit week, we dress in extreme spirit on Fridays and end the day with a pep rally. The pep rallies include competitive games between grades such as dodgeball, trivia, and a scavenger hunt. The winners of these games earn spirit points for their grades in hopes of winning the spirit stick. Junior Addie Clayton said, “Spirit Week brings us together because it creates a sense of community when we all come together and dress up to show our Woodford Pride”. The grade who earns the most spirit points wins the spirit stick and holds it until the next spirit week. This year, the Junior Class won the spirit stick after earning a majority of their points from participation in dress-up days.
Another aspect of Spirit Week is participation in the Homecoming Parade. Each grade is given a theme and they decorate a float for the parade. Students from each grade stand on their float and throw candy as the parade goes through downtown Versailles. Grades earn points for participation on the float and the quality of the decorations. The parade always takes place on the Thursday night before Homecoming and following the parade, a powderpuff game is held at the Community Stadium. The Powderpuff game isn’t worth any points, however, it is a fun opportunity for girls to participate in a flag football game and win bragging rights for their grade.
At the end of the week, Woodford plays a home football game and then the homecoming dance follows. Spirit week can get very competitive but at the end of the week no matter which grade wins or loses, everyone comes together to showcase their spirit at the football game. This tradition is a fun break for students as it breaks up the mundane routine of class and reminds us all to cherish our high school years.
